Grey

It’s a grey dreamy day, the kind of day one can luxuriate in and enfold oneself in delectable silks and cashmeres. This floaty skirt is charcoal silk satin overlaid with gunmetal silk chiffon. Over the skirt goes a cashmere cardy the colour of pale seaglass, with short sleeves.

The skirt, tho’, is the thing. I bought it at least five Christmases ago, and have worn it only as many times. Why? Old perspectives die hard, and I always thought silks as something reserved for special seasons, like Christmas and New Year parties. Not any more. Time for a sea change.

Here are four reasons why:
1. The number of party invitations I get have been in freefall over the years, so I’ve taken to hosting the kind of parties *I* want to go to. (Social gatherings with relatives, though fun, are not in the same category.)

2. I feel better about myself when I’m wearing weightless fabrics which somehow feel warm on cool days, and cool on hot days.

3. I will be out and about today until night. Whether it’s a car or clothes, it always boils down to mileage, doesn’t it?

4. The best reason of all: I can still get into it.

N.B. If you’ve always spelled it as gray, may I suggest the letter ‘e’ to replace ‘a’. Grey is elegant, while the other evokes a more dismal tone. Grey suggests merriment and youth, the other the exact opposite.